Everton 2 Manchester City 1: City fight club have no punch

EVERTON 2 - Manchester City 1

Roberto Mancini and David Platt had to shepherd Aleksandar Kolarov down the tunnel []

AS Roberto Mancini and David Platt shepherded a raging Aleksandar Kolarov down the tunnel and, a few yards away, Brian Kidd held back Phil Neville, the eye was drawn amid all the mayhem to manager David Moyes.

With tempers flaring, insults being traded and fingers angrily jabbing in all directions, the Everton manager watched and waited, a beaming smile plastered across his face.

Everton's Phil Neville celebrates after the final whistle during the Barclays Premier League

“I enjoyed standing back and seeing it all because at the end of the day your job is to fight in the 90 minutes,” he said. “After the game it doesn’t matter.”

EVERTON 2 -- MANCHESTER CITY 1

It was a point of view more damaging than the scoreline for Manchester City, which brought unwanted scrutiny once more to a reign that is within touching distance of etching Mancini’s name into their history books but, at the same time, poses as many questions as answers.

The sight of Kolarov starting the melee by trying to pick a fight with Seamus Coleman immediately after the final whistle, unhappy at the Everton midfielder’s theatrical tumble that might have earned him a second booking and a red card, was at odds with City’s lack of aggression as they carelessly surrendered the win that would have guaranteed them Champions League football.

Until then, the only spirit they had summoned after the interval came from Mancini himself, who exploded in fury when substitute Mario Balotelli ambled back to collect a loose ball and was pick-pocketed by the effervescent Coleman, who made 10 yards up on his opponent.

A win against Tottenham tomorrow will still cement City’s place among Europe’s elite next term and could be followed by their first trophy for 35 years in the FA Cup final on Saturday, yet owner Sheikh Mansour may still ponder whether Mancini really is the right man to lead the club forward given the dips in form that still frequently occur.

It seems inconceivable that City’s mega-bucks players, so easy on the eye in the opening 45 minutes, can still be stymied by such squalid shortcomings as a lack of character.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis will have left Goodison Park counting the days to the cup final having witnessed City buckle alarmingly under an aerial bombardment as Everton scrambled back into a contest that should have been pushed beyond them.

“It was incredible that he scored against Kompany,” said Mancini, who will recall painfully how Andy Carroll scored a similar goal for Liverpool three weeks ago by bustling in front of a flat-footed defender, on that occasion Kolarov.

“After the way we played in the first half, it was incredible how we played the second – very soft and not compact.”

Moyes savoured another triumph over Mancini, having beaten him in all four of their meetings since the Italian surfaced in the Premier League.

“If you judged it on talent theirs is greater than ours, so I have to find another way of winning and the players have done that over the years,” he said. “I always think Ossie has got a chance because he is good in the air, but it reminded me a bit of Andy Gray getting across people, jumping well.

“He was brave. He came in and said he took one for the team there because he got a bang on the back of his head. The type of goal reminded me of the old days.”

There was another nod towards Everton’s past in the shape of Duncan Ferguson, who had been introduced to the crowd before kick-off.

The thunderous ovation might have explained his tearful reaction, or perhaps it was simply the realisation he would be missing out on feasting on City’s soft centre.